Charley crabtre strother



(No Model.)

G. G. STROTHBR. GAR GOUPLING.

No. 459,128. Patented Sept. 8, 1891.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

@HARLEY CRABTRE STROTHER, OF CALIFORNIA, MISSOURI.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 459,128, datedSeptember 8, 1891.

Application filed June 9, 1891. Serial No. 395,691. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLEY CRABTEE STROTHER, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at California, in the county of Moniteau and State ofMissouri, have invented a new and useful Car-Coupling, of which thefollowing is a speciiication.

This invention relates to oar-couplin gs, and more especially to thatclass thereof known as gravity pin-supportsg and the object of the sameis to produce certain improvements in devices of this character.

To this end the invention consists in the specific details ofconstruction hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and asillustrated on the sheet of drawings, where- 111- Figure 1 is a partialperspective View of a car having my coupling attached. Fig. i is a sideelevation of the draw-head with the pin raised. Fig. 3 is aeentralvertical longitudinal section of the draw-head with the pin loweredthrough the link. Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective detail of thesliding pinsupport and the guides therefor slightly separated.

Referring to the said drawings, the letter I) designates a draw-headmounted beneath a car-body and having' suitable cushioningsprings. L isthe link passing into the open mouth of this draw-head.

Pis the pin passing through the vertical pin-opening in the draw-headand through the link, and C is a cord or chain leading upwardly fromthis pin through an eye I in the end of the car to a handle II at thetop thereof, its lower end being preferably connected to the link by aelevis or shackle S, and O is another chain leading from this shacklethrough the eye to a bell-crank lever L, pivoted on the end of the carand from whose other arm another chain O2 leads outwardly over a pulleyor wheel YV and has a handle 1I on its end. By these handles an operatoron the top of the car or at the side of the track can lift the pin aswill be clear. The link is held in horizontal position by a flat springF, secured within the draw-head near its mouth, having an opening Othrough which the pin passes, and its rear end bearing downwardly on thelink when the latter is in place, as seen in Fig. 3.

1 is an L-shaped bracket having its base secured upon the draw-head andhaving one arm extending forwardly over the pin-opening, where it isprovided with a hole through which the enlarged body 2 of the pin passesvertically. Said enlarged body has a vertical slot 3, which is engagedby a transverse pin 4. through the opening in this bracket to preventthe dislocation of the pin and the lower end of the latter is reduced,thereby forming a shoulder 5, all as best seen in Fig.

Secured upon the top ofthe draw-head near its front end at eachside ofthe pin-opening is a guide 10, whose inner edge 11 is raised and whosefront corner is notched, as at 12.

13 is a pin-support having flanges 11 at its sides, which move beneaththe inner edges 11 of the guides 10 and upon the body of the draw-headD, having a turned-np and enlarged front end 20, whose edges move intothe notches 12 when the support is driven to the rear, having an arm 15rising from its rear end and forked at 1G, where it slides beneath theforwardly-extending arm of the bracket 1, and having an elongated holeor opening 17 through its body, and this support is pressed normallyforward by a spring 1S between its arm 15 and the bracket 1, the rearend of this spring passing through said bracket and having a nut 19.

In operation one of the handles is drawn upon to raise the pin l?, whoseslot 3 moves over the transverse pin 1 in the opening in the bracketuntil its shoulder passes above the fork 1G of the arm 15, when thespring 1S throws the support forwardly, its flanges 14 sliding beneaththe edges 11 of the plates 10, as will be clear. The fork 16 thus comesbeneath the shoulder 5 on the pin P and holds the latter raised, whilethe enlarged front end 2O of the supportis projected slightlybeyond thefront end of the draw-head. Another car now approaching, with a link Lprojecting from its draw-head D, the link moves into the mouth of thedraw-head illustrated and beneath the fiat spring F, and the enlargedfront end of the other draw-head strikes the similar end 20 on this one.The support 13 IOO is thereby moved to the rear against the tension ofthe spring 18, the opening 17 in the support moving astride the pin, andas soon as the fork 1G passes from beneath the shoulder 5 the pin drops,its reduced lower end passing through the link, which at this time isdriven far into the draw-head.

It will thus be seen that my improved carcoupling is automatic in itsaction when used in connection with any other form of drawhead whichwill drive the support to the rear and which uses a link, and theuncoupling can be done from the top of the car `or from the ground.

The devices on the draw-head can be applied to the draw-heads already inuse, or the entire cost of manufacturing the carcoupling is but a triflemore than that of many of those now made. p

I do not limit myself to the exact details of construction, asconsiderable change may be made therein without departing from thespirit of my invention.

What is claimed as new is- 1. In a vcar-coupling, the combination, withthe draw-head having a vertical pin-opening, an upwardly and forwardlyextending bracket on said draw-head having an enlarged opening over saidpin-opening, a transverse pin through said enlarged opening, and acoupling-pin having its lower end reduced and passing through thedraw-head and provided with a slot abovel the shoulder thus formed, theslotted portion passing through said enlarged opening with the slotastride said transverse pin, of means for raising said pin, and

a spring-actuated pin-support normally engaging said shoulder andadapted to be disengaged therefrom by the-impact of the drawheads,substantially as described.

2. In a car-coupling, the combination, with the draw-head having avertical pin-openin g, a bracket mounted on the draw-head and having anopening in alignment with the pinopening, a coupling-pin moving in saidopening, and means for raising it, of longitudinal guides on thedraw-head, a pin-support moving between them and having an npturned armat its rear end, and an expansive spring between said arm and bracket,the support holding the pin elevated when it is moved forwardly,substantially as described.

3. In a car-coupling, the combination, with the draw-head having avertical pin-opening, a bracket mounted on the draw-head and having anopening in alignment with the pinopening, a coupling-pin moving in saidopenings and having a downwardly-facing shoulder on its rear side, andmeans for raising the pin, of guides upon the draw-head having raisedinner edges provided with notches at their front corners, a pin-supportlmoving between said edges and having flanges passing beneath them, thesupport having an enlarged front end adapted to be seated in saidnotches and having an upwardly projecting arm at its rear end, whoseupper extremity is forked and moves beneath the bracket, the body ofsaid support having an elongated opening moving astride the pin, and aneX- pansive spring between said arm and bracket, substantially asdescribed. v

4. In a car-coupling, the combination, with the draw-head having avertical pin-opening, a bracket mounted on the draw-head and having anopening in alignment with the pinopening, acoupling-pin moving in saidopenings and hav'ing a downwardly-facing shoulder on its rear side, thebody of the pin above said shoulder being slotted, a transverse pinthrough the opening in the bracketv and through said slot, and chainsleading upwardly from said pin to the top of the car and over abell-crank lever to the side of the car and carrying handles, of aspring-actuated pin.support normally engaging said shoulder and adaptedto be disengaged therefrom by the impact of the draw-heads,substantially as and for the purposehereinbefore described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signaturein presence of two witnesses.

CHARLEY C RABT RE S'IROTHER.

'Witnesses MILES ALLEE, SAML. H. STROTHER.

